


For these two men

by novera_nope



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom
Genre: Calm Down Erik, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, POV Third Person, Panic Attacks, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men: Days of Future Past References, X-Men: First Class References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-23 23:13:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7483755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novera_nope/pseuds/novera_nope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Erik has a panic attack on the plane, even an emotionally stunted man as Logan realizes the nature of the relationship between Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For these two men

**Author's Note:**

> I do realize the plane scene is rather old, but this panic attack needed to be written and the plane just seemed the right setting for it. I hope you like it!

"So you were always an asshole," Logan stated when Charles had retreated into the cockpit after the altercation with Magneto. It was low, to say the least, to kick a man when he obviously already down. Then again, he'd always known Magneto - or _Erik_ , as Charles still insisted on calling him - as a man who couldn't stand any weakness. He took a cigar and lit it. 

"I take it we'll be best buddies in the future," Magneto said sarcastically. 

Logan smiled despite himself. "I've spent a lot of years trying to take you down, bub."

Magneto's mouth curled slightly. "How does that work out for you?"

"You're like me." Logan looked Magneto straight in the eye and took a drag from his cigar. "You're a survivor. And will you pick all that shit up?" 

Magneto looked around then, seemingly surprised at the mess he'd made, but he _did_ clean up and Logan supposed that could account for a small victory. 

***

When Charles had returned from the cockpit, Magneto immediately went to him, carrying a chessboard - a piece offering, Logan supposed. Magneto was looking very pale, he noticed. He offered to play a game, but Charles claimed not to be in the mood. Well, after the scene he’d just witnessed, he could hardly blame the guy. 

While he pretended to fall asleep, he heard them talk quietly about the president and about Raven, and he was close to actually dozing off, when suddenly he heard an alarmed gasp from Charles. "Erik?" 

Logan's eyes flew open. He could only see Magneto's back, but he could clearly see that the man's posture was way too stiff. He was shaking slightly. Charles was next to Magneto's chair instantly, fumbling with the top button of the blue shirt he was wearing. 

"Charles?" Logan called. "Is he all right? Should I call Hank?" 

"No," Charles snapped, his eyes not leaving Magneto. "He's having a panic attack." _Ah, so even Magneto has a weakness, after all._

He wanted to say something, but Charles had already turned to Magneto. "So you're still having them," he said quietly. 

"Prison." Magneto gasped for air. "Got... worse," he managed to get out. "Locked in... I-"

The look on Charles' face was a mixture of pain and guilt and pure sadness. "Erik, what -" Charles glanced at Logan, obviously uncomfortable with his presence at this point. He looked utterly helpless.

"What can I do, Erik?" he asked in a low voice, tinged by desperation. 

"You… know," Magneto gasped. "You-"

"Yes," Charles answered. " _Yes._ " He looked briefly at Logan again and then muttered something like "fuck it". 

And then he straddled Magneto - he _straddled_ him - and put Magneto's hands under his shirt. "Do you feel my heart beating?"

"Yes." It was bearly a whisper, almost too quiet even for the wolverine to catch. 

"It's beating calmly, because there's nothing to be afraid of. We'll land soon and you'll be out."

Erik looked up at Charles, his eyes too wide, his look wild and desperate. There was sweat on his brow. 

And then Charles let out a sob, and pulled Magneto - _Erik_ , Logan corrected, for it was difficult to reconcile this person with the Magneto he knew - towards him. Charles' hands went up to cradle Erik's head, running soothingly through his hair, and Erik's body curved into Charles' immediately, almost instinctively. "That's it. Let go," Charles murmured. "I’m here, it'll pass, you’ll be ok." 

The intimacy struck even an emotionally stunted man as Logan and he looked away, trying to give them a measure of privacy. He could still hear Charles talking, though, calmly, steadily, murmuring sweet nothings. 

When it was finally over and an uncomfortable silence fell over the plane, Logan looked up to see Erik’s head was lying in Charles’ lap. He wasn’t moving, and Logan didn’t know if the man was actually asleep or just exhausted from the strain of the attack. 

“What the hell was _that_?” he asked. 

A look of astonishment briefly flashed across Charles’ face. “You didn’t think that, just because I’m angry with him, I was going to let him suffer? I was trying to help-"

Logan snorted. “You have a strange way of _helping_ , bub.”

Charles looked down and sighed. “It’s the only way I know how. It’s bad enough that I can’t -" He wiggled his fingers against his temple. And then, almost as an afterthought: “He’s always responded to my touch.” 

Maybe he was imagining it, but Logan thought he saw a slight blush coloring Charles’ cheeks. How he could not have realized the nature of their relationship ages ago – or a long time in the future, depending on how he looked at it – was beyond him. It made _sense_ , it explained so much about those two. 

He shrugged. “I guess that makes him an even bigger asshole.” 

***

At some point Logan must have fallen asleep for real, for when he woke up Erik was up again, seated across from Charles and talking softly to him. 

“How is it that you can still be so kind to me? How is it that you have that in you?” There was wonder in Erik's voice. 

There was a long silence before Charles answered, looking sad. “You know why.”

Erik’s eyes widened. “But… on the beach you told me – I said I wanted you by my side and you-"

“Politically, no, I didn’t want to be. I still don’t – I’ll never join the brotherhood. But personally…” A tear slid down Charles’ cheek as realization downed on him. “You thought I was rejecting you.”

“And you weren’t,” Erik said slowly. “And I still left you there.” He put his hand on Charles’ cheek and gently wiped the tear away with his thumb. “I’m sorry. I... should have stayed.”

“Yes, you should have,” Charles stated firmly. But when he looked up at Erik, there was a slight smile around his mouth and a sparkle in his eyes that Logan had never seen before, not even where he came from. 

He took another cigar and looked out the window. For these two men, he really hoped they would be able to change the future.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [For These Two Men (The 37,000 Foot Remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7958101) by [afrocurl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrocurl/pseuds/afrocurl)




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